Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC Offers $50,000 for Technical Solution to Illegal Commercial “Robocalls”, (Oct 19, 2012)

By John W. Arden, J.D. LLM.

Taking a novel approach in addressing a consumer protection problem, the Federal Trade Commission yesterday challenged the public to create an innovative solution to block illegal commercial “robocalls” on landlines and mobile phones.

As part of its campaign against illegal, prerecorded telemarketing calls, the agency has launched the “FTC Robocall Challenge,” offering a $50,000 case prize for the best technical solution.

In conducting the contest, the agency will employ Challenge.gov, an online challenge platform administered by the U.S. General Services Administration in partnership with ChallengePost. The judges for the FTC Robocall Challenge are Steve Bellovin, FTC Chief Technologist; Henning Schulzrinne, Federal Communication Commission Chief Technologist; and Kara Swisha of All Things D.

Submissions must include the name of the solution, a brief text description, at least one image representative of the solution, and a file upload of the proposal. Contestants may also submit for consideration a link to a publicly-available video on Youtube.com or Vimeo.com, demonstrating a solution on a device or emulator or describing how the proposed solution would work.

The submission period is October 25, 2012 to January 17, 2013. The judging period is January 17, 2013 to March 31, 2013. Winners will be announced on or around April 1, 2013.

A complete list of official rules and frequently asked questions are available on Challenge.gov. Text of the FTC’s Federal Register Notice on the challenge appears here on the agency’s website.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews